Actually CCCathy, I'm in lounge pants, T-shirt, Sweat-shirt, Fuzzy socks and slippers and I'm still cold. I have all the ingredients on the counter to bake some cookies I found a recipe for. (waiting for the butter to warm a little). It's basically a peanut butter cookie but you hide a snack-size snicker bar inside the dough-ball before baking. It will be a GREAT surprize for my dad...LOL...
Send me over a piece of that pie would you? I'll supply the a la mode from my front yard if this keeps up... :p

You in North Georgia, Cathy? I hope you're using Nora Mills as your flour supplier. A fantastic place (been in operation a century and a quarter, or some such) not only to buy stuff but to visit---it's on the way to Alpine Helen, so you could make a grand weekend out of it.

Check 'em out at ...::: Welcome To Nora Mill Online :::...

Rhonda, do a google search for Monkey Bread and you'll come up with several versions. It's a sweet dough bread, made into a break-apart ring. Kids love every aspect of it, including the making, cuz they get to play with the dough.

KYHeirloomer-
I will do the search right now. I just went to the grocery after taking my daughter to school and bought a jar of dry yeast so I'm ready to go. Darnit, I forgot to look for a bread pan. Speaking of bread pans....which type do you recommend?
Thanks again for all your help.

Hey Roo & KYH,
Roo your Dad's Dr. needs to yell at you:) making all those goodies knowing your poor Dad will cave in & just have to try a bite;). Precious p-nut butter m-m-m-m love the stuff and those cookies sound delicious!
Yes KYH I live only about a little over 2 hrs from Helen, GA and I will most definently make a point out of finding that Nora Mills store one weekend! I live in a town that manufactures Southeastern Mills products [they pkg for Sysco, etc.] everything from flour, to grits [yummy], to gravy mix, etc.! But I prefer Martha White flour, but basically use whatever is on sale, and it's never Martha White:(.
I was born & raised in Miami FL [Yummy Cuban Cuisine!!!] but our family used to vacation in Helen, Ga and we went to Unicoi State Park and rented a cabin there. Somewhere in the area was a Restaurant that Made the best fried catfish in the world, fried whole, and we would feast on this treat. There were wild plum trees growing along side the road on the way up and we would stop and the entire faily of 7 would eat our fill of wild plums, I thought GA was simply heaven on earth! And lo & behold here I am in my favorite spot in the USA! And I have traveled and lived all over the US [thanks to the US military]. The thing I like about our grand nation is the local varities of different foods! I guess you can say that about any country, but I guess our great nation is so varied due to our melting pot of cultures! Helen being famous for the German influence. I love German bakery products! Well gotta' admit it's really all bakery products:) Just doesn't pay to be picky does it?
Thanks For the cool shopping tip KYH!
Be warm my friends, CCCathy

Yeah, I love the Georgia Smokies---probably the last undiscovered wild country in the U.S. Everything that NC offers, but without the crowds.

If you do get to Nora Mill, check out their Pioneer Porridge. It's a combination of something like 7 grains, and makes a really great cold-weather breakfast.

In terms of store-bought, I prefer the King Arthur flours, and don't care about paying the premium. Martha White is pretty good, too. The store brands run a very distanct third (and are packed as 4-lbs, not five, so the "savings" may be more imagined than real). But nothing compares to fresh, stone-ground fllours.

The fact is, though, that even premium flours are so inexpensive that I've never paid attention. There are other places to cut corners, IMO. With bread, it's all about the flour.

Rhonda: I'm not sure exactly what you mean by bread pans. For hearth-style loaves I use half sheets pans of aluminized steel. These get covered with parchment paper and sprinkled with either semolina flour or cornmeal. If you have nonstick sheets---which is likely in most households---you should still use the parchment paper & flour.

I also have a baking stone that stays permenantly in the oven. Start by preheating 50-100 degrees higher than the formula says, then lower the heat after putting the dough in. This is particularly important if you use steaming.

For loaves it depends on the size; I have both 1-lb and 2-lb loaf pans. For the monkey style bread, any round, oven-proof bowl will do. I used to use a Bundt pan. Recently I found a ceramic ring mold that is more convenient to use.